Hey guys, i have WAY to many threads. So here is one more. This one, However, will be a thread where i can post all the things i am currently working on, but don't really deserve an individual thread. I will make individual threads fro major consignments, and really unique builds. Everything else, from guitars, basses and ukes, all the way to cajons and videos of what Jillard guitars has been up to recently. This is the thread to come to to see me plan guitars, help me develop ideas, tips and tricks i have learned or am learning, and see pictures of my current builds. Feel free to ask me any appropriate questions as well, il try to help.

Alright, il get the ball rolling with some things ive been working on the past year. Due to my current work situation things have been slower than normal, but i feel i still had a productive year, between the empress, cal's bass, lee's guitar, the lp jr, and loads of jigs and new tools.

That being said there are so many other builds that i started, but havn't posted pictures or finished the builds yet. so instead of making a thread that will lay untouched for months at a time, they will go in here alongside everything else.

So, speaking of cal, as part of the deal he gave me a whole bunch of wood that he got from an old barn.. all this wood, was cut down abotu 100 years ago. Maple and Pine.

so heres soem of the pine cut to body-ish size

and about 1/5th of the maple cut into neck blanks.

then i moved up north and relocated my shop to this one, here is some of the wood being stored.. and soem of that pine getting character.

then i spent a while building the empress exclusively, but one night i came back to all this pine.

i spent 4 hours one night, turning the best 4 pieces into telecaster bodies. although not the prettiest grain, they are lightweight and nice. i also built my router thickness jig that night.

anyways, il share a little side project i've been working on, sinc ei jsut worked on ti a bit in the shop today.. im rather covered in sawdust.

I have been building a cajon! mostly a prototype to get the hang of it, and to see if it sounds good. but i realyl want want and so do alot of my friends.. and if it proves inexpensive enough, i can do them as gifts for people and stuff.

got the dimesnions from some random plan online.. didn;t give it much thought but ran to home depot and got a bunch of fir plywood for the back and sides, and some birch thin ply for the tappa. again.. cheap, simple.. jsut an expirement. if it goes well i will move to hardwood cajons. if needed.

So i cut all my peices to size, layed them out.

then i gleud the top and bottom to the sides

then glued the back on:

let that sit for a day, sanded it all down and then moved to other thigns.

i drilled a hole in the side using a drill press and a hole saw, came out really nice. (to my surprise.. im not used to plywood)

and i routed the top and back to a 3/8ths radius. had a bit of tearout due to me not knowing how ply reacts to a router.. figured out how not to aproach it... ah well.. its just a prototype, a little boo boo on the back is fine.

i bought a 14" snare wire. and then cut it in half.. to get 2 cajons out of it.. yay cost effectiveness!

finnaly, i got some leftover wenge scraps from one of the tele's and glued them about 1/8th shy of the front. i will probbably stain the back and sides on this one, keeping the tappa natural. might lacquer them if it ends up sounding any good.

i know i have other pictures of those tele bodies.. i got them all rotued and drileld in the same day.. just have to find those pics.

anyways, thats alot to read and stuff, and im covered in sawdust and have to work real early tommorow. but stay tuned, there will be more.

im going to try to post everytime i do work on stuff... but i have some old stuff that has never been seen before, and eventually i want to bring back my video diary stuff.. cuz those were fun... but now in hd with good sound qual!

A leslie rotating speaker, same thing they use for hammond organs but for guitar. I've always wanted to build one as an effect to have with my amp, i'd make a great build if you could track down the parts for it.

ahhh.. im not really good an the electronic aspect of things.. still struggle with guitar wiring if its complex at all.

i do like hearing everyones suggestions and stuff. if you ever want to know how i do something, or want a video tutorial of a specific process, post it here and i will try to get to it as soon as i can.

I am here to give to you anything i can.

but not..a guitar.. or anything.. for free.. just knowledge. and fun.

here, enjoy a couple shots of the one tele that will actually be done soon =]

All wenge neck, stainless steel frets, offset small pearl dots. the body is one of the pine bodies, right now its just grainfilled (i was experimenting with getting the 50's blonde tele color with using grainfill only.. didn;t work well at all. so i will sand that back and paint it white, black gaurd, silver hardware, TDM pickups.. and.. wait for it.. a deer antler nut. il show some pics of that process later =]

yeah, ive been slowly learning electronic stuff, i leared alot from james when we both lived in the same city, but now that we both moved its kinda rough. im a visual learner and now he has to try to explain thigns to me in text.

i got the wenge from Exotic Woods Burlington. but i think im moving my supplier to A+M woods. i heard they are cheaper and better and know more about lutherie. the Wenge was pretty cheap too, bought rough stock, picked out a nice peice that was perfectly 1/4ed

then took it home planed it and stuff, got 3 necks out of it.. payed like 35 bucks. next time il buy a piece about an inch wider.. wont add to much board feet, but will be able to get twice as many necks from it.

thats a key thing for builders that are starting out.. if you can, avoid wasting time with "neck blanks" that you find in wood stores or online. all those are are a regular piece of wood dresses to 1" thick. then they charge you like 30$ for a maple blank.

go buy rough stock, dress it yourself and you will save a tonne of cash. and take your time picking out wood, don't be ashamed to go through every piece of the pile.

i generally get down to 3 or 4 pieces i like, then i pay a little bit to ahve them thickness sand one surface on each flat then and there so i can really see the grain.

and the cajons fro example, i priced out the pieces from 1 cajon, using the small pre cut boards.. it was like 45$

then i priced out a full sheet of fir and a full sheet of birch. it was lke 50$.. and i even had them cut most of the pieces to size on the wall saw.

I saw your genesis inlay on cals bass an was impressed, a video or text tutorial on inlaying would be cool

keep up the good work

alrighty, il see if i have enough pearl to do a Jillard logo inlay on the headstock of the tele.. im still new at inlaying so doing a video will help me too by practicing.

thanks everyone else! i think in a few minutes im going to see what color stain im going to sue for the back and sides of the cajon.. my gut tells me black for the first one.. but i may go with something bright and happy liek purple, teal, or green.

depends what mood i am in when i do it. and what i'm wearing at the time.. have to match ya know =P

Work today was decent.. mostly cleaning.. got of early because a group is coming tonight and im hosting. but.. it gave me some time to get my hands dirty...

nice and stained.. just in time for meeting lots of people and shaking hands.. its a good way to bring up what i do and boost my self esteem when people find out i built the legocaster that is hanging in the lodge.. its a nice conversation piece with girls too =P

anyways, with an old sock, some warm water and water based powdered stain. i stained the cajon.. tested a few colors and decided fro black for this one.. kidna rustic.. classy. goes well with the natural tappa.

and here it is. yay... all thats left before testign it is scrwing in the snare, screwing on the tappa and shaping it to fit the roundovers at the top.

and as promised il show you the deer antler nut.

So the director of camp came in one day with a deer antler he picked up about 10 years ago, to show the kids it and tell them about how the mice and squirells will actuall completly eat it if left on the ground. this one was covered in gnaw marks.

anyways, long story short a little piece brok off and i asked if i could have it:

then it was lots of sanding to get a couple flat sides.. and alot of cutting into a smalelr blank.. only got 2 blanks from it but w.e

also sliced my finger open REALLY good. gotta be carefull i guess.

if.. for some odd reason you ever do this, you need to use the tips of the antlers, the bass is really open pored, and won't work very well.